Sunday, March 28, 2010

Television EMF- Is it Safe?

Is indoor cycling in front of a television safe? When I first started using my road bike on E-Motion Rollers, I thought the only risk for me was falling off (OK, I admit I did kind of tip over the other day trying some out of saddle standing climbing, but I just in case I padded my floor with several blankets to soften the fall). Now I'm not so sure.

Thinking I could track total miles ridden rather than time, I purchased a wireless bike computer. If you are not familiar, a magnet is attached to a spoke, which passes close to a sensor mounted on the fork. The sensor transmits to the computer mounted on the handle bars, indicating speed, distance, etc. The problem was, I couldn't get it to work. After changing the battery and fiddling with all possible angles and distance from the magnet to the sensor, I simply gave up. Then one day I removed my bike from the room and presto, the computer worked perfectly! I took it back into the room where I had my E-Motion Rollers set up, and it immediately quit on me.

After a little research, I learned about electomagnetic forces emitted by televisions and other appliances (World Health Organization). I discovered that my bike had to be moved all the way out into the hallway (10 ' or so) before EMF interference from the television disappeared.

Is EMF harmful? Let's hope not, because I have to have the TV on when I ride indoors.

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